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Rando G, Sfameni S, Milone M, Mezzi A, Brucale M, Notti A, Plutino MR. Smart pillar[5]arene-based PDMAEMA/PES beads for selective dye pollutants removal: design, synthesis, chemical-physical characterization, and adsorption kinetic studies. ChemSusChem 2024; 17:e202301502. [PMID: 38154027 DOI: 10.1002/cssc.202301502] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2023] [Revised: 12/07/2023] [Accepted: 12/22/2023] [Indexed: 12/30/2023]
Abstract
This article reports on the synthesis of an innovative smart polymer, P5-QPDMAEMA, opportunely developed with the aim of combining the responsiveness of PDMAEMA polymer and the host-guest properties of covalently linked pillar[5]arenes. Thanks to a traditional Non-Induced Phase Separation (NIPS) process performed at various coagulation pH, the blending of P5-QPDMAEMA with polyethersulfone gave rise to the formation of functional beads for the removal of organic dyes in water. Adsorption tests are carried out on all the produced blend-based beads by employing two representative dyes, the cationic methylene blue (MB), and the anionic methyl orange (MO). In particular, the P5-QPDMAEMA based beads, prepared at acidic pH, featured the best MO removal rate (i. e., 91.3 % after 150 minutes starting from a 20 mg ⋅ L-1 solution) and a high selectivity towards the removal of the selected anionic dye. Based on the adsorption kinetics and isotherm calculations, the pseudo-first order and Freundlich models were shown to be the most suitable to describe the MO adsorption behavior, achieving a maximum adsorption capacity of 21.54 mg ⋅ g-1. Furthermore, zwitterionic beads are obtained by a post-functionalization of the PDMAEMA and the P5-QPDMAEMA based beads, to test their removal capability towards both anionic and cationic dyes, as shown.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giulia Rando
- Department of Chemical, Biological, Pharmaceutical and Environmental Sciences (ChiBioFarAm), University of Messina, Viale F. Stagno d'Alcontres 31, 98166, Messina, Italy
- Institute for the Study of Nanostructured Materials, ISMN - CNR, URT Messina, c/o Dep. ChiBioFarAm, University of Messina, Viale F. Stagno d'Alcontres 31, 98166, Messina, Italy
| | - Silvia Sfameni
- Institute for the Study of Nanostructured Materials, ISMN - CNR, URT Messina, c/o Dep. ChiBioFarAm, University of Messina, Viale F. Stagno d'Alcontres 31, 98166, Messina, Italy
| | - Marco Milone
- Department of Chemical, Biological, Pharmaceutical and Environmental Sciences (ChiBioFarAm), University of Messina, Viale F. Stagno d'Alcontres 31, 98166, Messina, Italy
| | - Alessio Mezzi
- Institute for the Study of Nanostructured Materials, ISMN - CNR, via Salaria Km 29.3, 00015, Monterotondo stazione, Rome, Italy
| | - Marco Brucale
- Institute for the Study of Nanostructured Materials, ISMN - CNR, via P. Gobetti 101, 40129, Bologna, Italy
| | - Anna Notti
- Department of Chemical, Biological, Pharmaceutical and Environmental Sciences (ChiBioFarAm), University of Messina, Viale F. Stagno d'Alcontres 31, 98166, Messina, Italy
| | - Maria Rosaria Plutino
- Institute for the Study of Nanostructured Materials, ISMN - CNR, URT Messina, c/o Dep. ChiBioFarAm, University of Messina, Viale F. Stagno d'Alcontres 31, 98166, Messina, Italy
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De Vitis E, Stanzione A, Romano A, Quattrini A, Gigli G, Moroni L, Gervaso F, Polini A. The Evolution of Technology-Driven In Vitro Models for Neurodegenerative Diseases. Adv Sci (Weinh) 2024; 11:e2304989. [PMID: 38366798 DOI: 10.1002/advs.202304989] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2023] [Revised: 01/15/2024] [Indexed: 02/18/2024]
Abstract
The alteration in the neural circuits of both central and peripheral nervous systems is closely related to the onset of neurodegenerative disorders (NDDs). Despite significant research efforts, the knowledge regarding NDD pathological processes, and the development of efficacious drugs are still limited due to the inability to access and reproduce the components of the nervous system and its intricate microenvironment. 2D culture systems are too simplistic to accurately represent the more complex and dynamic situation of cells in vivo and have therefore been surpassed by 3D systems. However, both models suffer from various limitations that can be overcome by employing two innovative technologies: organ-on-chip and 3D printing. In this review, an overview of the advantages and shortcomings of both microfluidic platforms and extracellular matrix-like biomaterials will be given. Then, the combination of microfluidics and hydrogels as a new synergistic approach to study neural disorders by analyzing the latest advances in 3D brain-on-chip for neurodegenerative research will be explored.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eleonora De Vitis
- CNR NANOTEC-Institute of Nanotechnology, Campus Ecotekn, via Monteroni, Lecce, 73100, Italy
| | - Antonella Stanzione
- CNR NANOTEC-Institute of Nanotechnology, Campus Ecotekn, via Monteroni, Lecce, 73100, Italy
| | - Alessandro Romano
- IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Division of Neuroscience, Institute of Experimental Neurology, Milan, 20132, Italy
| | - Angelo Quattrini
- IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Division of Neuroscience, Institute of Experimental Neurology, Milan, 20132, Italy
| | - Giuseppe Gigli
- CNR NANOTEC-Institute of Nanotechnology, Campus Ecotekn, via Monteroni, Lecce, 73100, Italy
- Dipartimento di Medicina Sperimentale, Università Del Salento, Campus Ecotekne, via Monteroni, Lecce, 73100, Italy
| | - Lorenzo Moroni
- CNR NANOTEC-Institute of Nanotechnology, Campus Ecotekn, via Monteroni, Lecce, 73100, Italy
- Complex Tissue Regeneration, Maastricht University, Universiteitssingel 40, Maastricht, 6229 ER, Netherlands
| | - Francesca Gervaso
- CNR NANOTEC-Institute of Nanotechnology, Campus Ecotekn, via Monteroni, Lecce, 73100, Italy
| | - Alessandro Polini
- CNR NANOTEC-Institute of Nanotechnology, Campus Ecotekn, via Monteroni, Lecce, 73100, Italy
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Peluso P, Mamane V, Spissu Y, Casu G, Dessì A, Dallocchio R, Sechi B, Palmieri G, Rozzo C. Iodinated 4,4'-Bipyridines with Antiproliferative Activity Against Melanoma Cell Lines. ChemMedChem 2024:e202300662. [PMID: 38489502 DOI: 10.1002/cmdc.202300662] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/27/2023] [Revised: 03/14/2024] [Accepted: 03/15/2024] [Indexed: 03/17/2024]
Abstract
In the last decade, biological processes involving halogen bond (HaB) as a leading interaction attracted great interest. However, although bound iodine atoms are considered powerful HaB donors, few iodinated new drugs were reported so far. Recently, iodinated 4,4'-bipyridines showed interesting properties as HaB donors in solution and in the solid state. In this paper, a study on the inhibition activity of seven halogenated 4,4'-bipyridines against malignant melanoma (MM) cell proliferation is described. Explorative dose/response proliferation assays were first performed with three 4,4'-bipyridines by using four MM cell lines and the normal BJ fibroblast cell line as control. Among them, the A375 MM cell line was the most sensitive, as determined by MTT assays, which was selected to evaluate the antiproliferative activity of all 4,4'-bipyridines. Significantly, the presence of an electrophilic iodine impacted the biological activity of the corresponding compounds. The 3,3',5,5'-tetrachloro-2-iodo-4,4'-bipyridine showed significant antiproliferation activity against the A375 cell line, and lower toxicity on BJ fibroblasts. Through in silico studies, the stereoelectronic features of possible sites determining the bioactivity were explored. These results pave the way for the utilization of iodinated 4,4'-bipyridines as templates to design new promising HaB-enabled inhibitors of MM cell proliferation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paola Peluso
- Istituto di Chimica Biomolecolare ICB-CNR, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), Traversa La Crucca, 3, Li Punti, 07100, Sassari, Italy
| | - Victor Mamane
- Institut de Chimie de Strasbourg, UMR CNRS 7177, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), 1 Rue Blaise Pascal, 67008, Strasbourg, France
| | - Ylenia Spissu
- Istituto di Scienze delle Produzioni Alimentari ISPA-CNR, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), Traversa La Crucca, 3, Li Punti, 07100, Sassari, Italy
| | - Giuseppina Casu
- Istituto di Ricerca Genetica e Biomedica IRGB-CNR, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), Traversa La Crucca, 3, Li Punti, 07100, Sassari, Italy
| | - Alessandro Dessì
- Istituto di Chimica Biomolecolare ICB-CNR, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), Traversa La Crucca, 3, Li Punti, 07100, Sassari, Italy
| | - Roberto Dallocchio
- Istituto di Chimica Biomolecolare ICB-CNR, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), Traversa La Crucca, 3, Li Punti, 07100, Sassari, Italy
| | - Barbara Sechi
- Istituto di Chimica Biomolecolare ICB-CNR, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), Traversa La Crucca, 3, Li Punti, 07100, Sassari, Italy
| | - Giuseppe Palmieri
- Istituto di Ricerca Genetica e Biomedica IRGB-CNR, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), Traversa La Crucca, 3, Li Punti, 07100, Sassari, Italy
| | - Carla Rozzo
- Istituto di Ricerca Genetica e Biomedica IRGB-CNR, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), Traversa La Crucca, 3, Li Punti, 07100, Sassari, Italy
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Billeci L, Sanmartin C, Tonacci A, Taglieri I, Ferroni G, Marangoni R, Venturi F. Wearable sensors to measure the influence of sonic seasoning on wine consumers in a live context: a preliminary proof-of-concept study. J Sci Food Agric 2024. [PMID: 38441204 DOI: 10.1002/jsfa.13432] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/23/2023] [Revised: 02/19/2024] [Accepted: 03/05/2024] [Indexed: 03/16/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Any action capable of creating expectations about product quality would be able to modulate experienced pleasantness. In this context, during the 2022 edition of the Internet Festival (Pisa, Italy) a 'social experiment' was promoted to set up an affordable and reliable methodology based on wearable sensors to measure the emotions aroused in a live context on consumers by different kinds of wines. Therefore, five wines (two faulty ones and three high-quality samples) were proposed to 50 non-selected consumers in an arousing context with live jazz music as background. Both explicit (questionnaires) and two different approaches for implicit methods (electrocardiogram (ECG) recorded by wearable sensors vs. smartphones), the latter performed on a subgroup of 16, to measure the emotions aroused by wines and music were utilized synergistically. RESULTS According to our findings: (i) wine undoubtedly generates a significant emotional response on consumers; (ii) this answer is multifaceted and attributable to the quality level of the wine tasted. In fact, all things being equal, while drinking wine even untrained consumers can perfectly recognize good wines compared to products of lower quality; (iii) high-quality wines are able to induce a spectrum of positive emotions, as observed by the analysis of ECG signals, especially when they are coupled with background music. CONCLUSION The framework has certainly played to the advantage of good-quality wines, fostering their positive emotional characteristics on the palate even of some less experienced consumers, thanks to a dragging effect towards a positive mood generated by the surrounding conditions (good music in a beautiful location). © 2024 Society of Chemical Industry.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lucia Billeci
- Institute of Clinical Physiology, National Research Council of Italy (IFC-CNR), Pisa, Italy
| | - Chiara Sanmartin
- Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
- Interdepartmental Research Centre 'Nutraceuticals and Food for Health', University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
| | - Alessandro Tonacci
- Institute of Clinical Physiology, National Research Council of Italy (IFC-CNR), Pisa, Italy
| | - Isabella Taglieri
- Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
- Interdepartmental Research Centre 'Nutraceuticals and Food for Health', University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
| | - Giuseppe Ferroni
- Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
| | - Roberto Marangoni
- Interdepartmental Centre for Complex Systems Studies, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
- Department of Biology, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
| | - Francesca Venturi
- Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
- Interdepartmental Research Centre 'Nutraceuticals and Food for Health', University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
- Interdepartmental Centre for Complex Systems Studies, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
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Ronga L, Varcamonti M, Tesauro D. Structure-Activity Relationships in NHC-Silver Complexes as Antimicrobial Agents. Molecules 2023; 28:molecules28114435. [PMID: 37298911 DOI: 10.3390/molecules28114435] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/04/2023] [Revised: 05/25/2023] [Accepted: 05/26/2023] [Indexed: 06/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Silver has a long history of antimicrobial activity and received an increasing interest in last decades owing to the rise in antimicrobial resistance. The major drawback is the limited duration of its antimicrobial activity. The broad-spectrum silver containing antimicrobial agents are well represented by N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) silver complexes. Due to their stability, this class of complexes can release the active Ag+ cations in prolonged time. Moreover, the properties of NHC can be tuned introducing alkyl moieties on N-heterocycle to provide a range of versatile structures with different stability and lipophilicity. This review presents designed Ag complexes and their biological activity against Gram-positive, Gram-negative bacteria and fungal strains. In particular, the structure-activity relationships underlining the major requirements to increase the capability to induce microorganism death are highlighted here. Moreover, some examples of encapsulation of silver-NHC complexes in polymer-based supramolecular aggregates are reported. The targeted delivery of silver complexes to the infected sites will be the most promising goal for the future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luisa Ronga
- Institut des Sciences Analytiques et de Physico-Chimie Pour l'Environnement et les Matériaux, Université de Pau et des Pays de l'Adour, E2S UPPA, CNRS, IPREM, 64053 Pau, France
| | - Mario Varcamonti
- Department of Biology, University of Naples "Federico II", Via Cynthia, 80143 Naples, Italy
| | - Diego Tesauro
- Department of Pharmacy and Interuniversity Research Centre on Bioactive Peptides (CIRPeB), University of Naples "Federico II", Via Montesano, 49, 80131 Naples, Italy
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Giordano D, Facchiano A, Moccia S, Meola AMI, Russo GL, Spagnuolo C. Molecular Docking of Natural Compounds for Potential Inhibition of AhR. Foods 2023; 12:foods12101953. [PMID: 37238771 DOI: 10.3390/foods12101953] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2023] [Revised: 05/04/2023] [Accepted: 05/09/2023] [Indexed: 05/28/2023] Open
Abstract
The aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) is a highly conserved environmental sensor, historically known for mediating the toxicity of xenobiotics. It is involved in numerous cellular processes such as differentiation, proliferation, immunity, inflammation, homeostasis, and metabolism. It exerts a central role in several conditions such as cancer, inflammation, and aging, acting as a transcription factor belonging to the basic helix-loop-helix/Per-ARNT-Sim (bHLH-PAS) protein family. A key step in the canonical AhR activation is AhR-ARNT heterodimerization followed by the binding to the xenobiotic-responsive elements (XREs). The present work aims to investigate the potential AhR inhibitory activity of selected natural compounds. Due to the absence of a complete structure of human AhRs, a model consisting of the bHLH, the PAS A, and the PAS B domains was constructed. Blind and focused docking simulations revealed the presence of further binding pockets, different from the canonical one presented in the PAS B domain, which could be important for AhR inhibition due to the possibility to impede AhR:ARNT heterodimerization, either preventing conformational changes or masking crucial sites necessary for protein-protein interaction. Two of the compounds retrieved from the docking simulations, i.e., β-carotene and ellagic acid, confirmed their capacity of inhibiting benzo[a]pyrene (BaP)-induced AhR activation in in vitro tests on the human hepatoma cell line HepG2, validating the efficacy of the computational approach.
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Affiliation(s)
- Deborah Giordano
- National Research Council, Institute of Food Sciences, 83100 Avellino, Italy
| | - Angelo Facchiano
- National Research Council, Institute of Food Sciences, 83100 Avellino, Italy
| | - Stefania Moccia
- National Research Council, Institute of Food Sciences, 83100 Avellino, Italy
| | | | - Gian Luigi Russo
- National Research Council, Institute of Food Sciences, 83100 Avellino, Italy
| | - Carmela Spagnuolo
- National Research Council, Institute of Food Sciences, 83100 Avellino, Italy
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Brambilla F, Garcia-Manteiga JM, Monteleone E, Hoelzen L, Zocchi A, Agresti A, Bianchi ME. Nucleosomes effectively shield DNA from radiation damage in living cells. Nucleic Acids Res 2020; 48:8993-9006. [PMID: 32710624 PMCID: PMC7498322 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkaa613] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/25/2019] [Revised: 06/22/2020] [Accepted: 07/10/2020] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Eukaryotic DNA is organized in nucleosomes, which package DNA and regulate its accessibility to transcription, replication, recombination and repair. Here, we show that in living cells nucleosomes protect DNA from high-energy radiation and reactive oxygen species. We combined sequence-based methods (ATAC-seq and BLISS) to determine the position of both nucleosomes and double strand breaks (DSBs) in the genome of nucleosome-rich malignant mesothelioma cells, and of the same cells partially depleted of nucleosomes. The results were replicated in the human MCF-7 breast carcinoma cell line. We found that, for each genomic sequence, the probability of DSB formation is directly proportional to the fraction of time it is nucleosome-free; DSBs accumulate distal from the nucleosome dyad axis. Nucleosome free regions and promoters of actively transcribed genes are more sensitive to DSB formation, and consequently to mutation. We argue that this may be true for a variety of chemical and physical DNA damaging agents.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Jose Manuel Garcia-Manteiga
- IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, via Olgettina 58, 20132 Milan, Italy
- Center for Omics Sciences, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | | | - Lena Hoelzen
- Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele, via Olgettina 58, 20132 Milan, Italy
- Faculty of Biology, Albert-Ludwigs-University Freiburg, D79104 Freiburg, Germany
| | - Angelica Zocchi
- Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele, via Olgettina 58, 20132 Milan, Italy
| | - Alessandra Agresti
- IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, via Olgettina 58, 20132 Milan, Italy
| | - Marco E Bianchi
- Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele, via Olgettina 58, 20132 Milan, Italy
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Balestrini R, Brunetti C, Chitarra W, Nerva L. Photosynthetic Traits and Nitrogen Uptake in Crops: Which Is the Role of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi? Plants (Basel) 2020; 9:E1105. [PMID: 32867243 PMCID: PMC7570035 DOI: 10.3390/plants9091105] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/04/2020] [Revised: 08/21/2020] [Accepted: 08/25/2020] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi are root symbionts that provide mineral nutrients to the host plant in exchange for carbon compounds. AM fungi positively affect several aspects of plant life, improving nutrition and leading to a better growth, stress tolerance, and disease resistance and they interact with most crop plants such as cereals, horticultural species, and fruit trees. For this reason, they receive expanding attention for the potential use in sustainable and climate-smart agriculture context. Although several positive effects have been reported on photosynthetic traits in host plants, showing improved performances under abiotic stresses such as drought, salinity and extreme temperature, the involved mechanisms are still to be fully discovered. In this review, some controversy aspects related to AM symbiosis and photosynthesis performances will be discussed, with a specific focus on nitrogen acquisition-mediated by AM fungi.
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Affiliation(s)
- Raffaella Balestrini
- National Research Council-Institute for Sustainable Plant Protection (CNR-IPSP), 10125 Turin, Italy; (C.B.); (W.C.); (L.N.)
| | - Cecilia Brunetti
- National Research Council-Institute for Sustainable Plant Protection (CNR-IPSP), 10125 Turin, Italy; (C.B.); (W.C.); (L.N.)
| | - Walter Chitarra
- National Research Council-Institute for Sustainable Plant Protection (CNR-IPSP), 10125 Turin, Italy; (C.B.); (W.C.); (L.N.)
- Council for Agricultural Research and Economics, Research Center for Viticulture and Enology, (CREA-VE), 31015 Conegliano (TV), Italy
| | - Luca Nerva
- National Research Council-Institute for Sustainable Plant Protection (CNR-IPSP), 10125 Turin, Italy; (C.B.); (W.C.); (L.N.)
- Council for Agricultural Research and Economics, Research Center for Viticulture and Enology, (CREA-VE), 31015 Conegliano (TV), Italy
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Festa G, Andreani C, Baldoni M, Cipollari V, Martínez-Labarga C, Martini F, Rickards O, Rolfo MF, Sarti L, Volante N, Senesi R, Stasolla FR, Parker SF, Vassalo AR, Mamede AP, Batista de Carvalho LAE, Marques MPM. First analysis of ancient burned human skeletal remains probed by neutron and optical vibrational spectroscopy. Sci Adv 2019; 5:eaaw1292. [PMID: 31259242 PMCID: PMC6598762 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aaw1292] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/20/2018] [Accepted: 05/17/2019] [Indexed: 05/23/2023]
Abstract
Burned skeletal remains are abundant in archaeological and paleontological sites, the result of fire or of ancient funerary practices. In the burning process, the bone matrix suffers structural and dimensional changes that interfere with the reliability of available osteometric methods. Recent studies showed that these macroscopic changes are accompanied by microscopic variations are reflected in vibrational spectra. An innovative integrated approach to the study of archaeological combusted skeletal remains is reported here, where the application of complementary vibrational spectroscopic techniques-INS (inelastic neutron scattering), FTIR (Fourier transform infrared), and micro-Raman-enables access to the complete vibrational profile and constitutes the first application of neutron spectroscopy to ancient bones. Comparison with data from modern human bones that were subjected to controlled burning allowed identification of specific heating conditions. This pioneering study provides archaeologists and anthropologists with relevant information on past civilizations, including regarding funerary, burial, and cooking practices and environmental settings.
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Affiliation(s)
- G. Festa
- CENTRO FERMI–Museo Storico della Fisica e Centro Studi e Ricerche “Enrico Fermi”, Piazza del Viminale 1, 00184 Rome, Italy
| | - C. Andreani
- CENTRO FERMI–Museo Storico della Fisica e Centro Studi e Ricerche “Enrico Fermi”, Piazza del Viminale 1, 00184 Rome, Italy
- Università degli Studi di Roma “Tor Vergata”–Dipartimento di Fisica, Via della Ricerca Scientifica 1, 00133 Rome, Italy
- Università degli Studi di Roma “Tor Vergata”–Centro NAST, Via della Ricerca Scientifica 1, 00133 Rome Italy
| | - M. Baldoni
- Università degli Studi di Roma “Tor Vergata”–Dipartimento di Biologia, Via della Ricerca Scientifica 1, 00133 Rome, Italy
- Università degli Studi di Roma “Tor Vergata”–Dipartimento di Biomedicina e Prevenzione, Via Montpellier 1, 00133 Rome, Italy
| | - V. Cipollari
- Soprintendenza Archeologica, Belle Arti e Paesaggio per l’area metropolitana di Roma, la provincia di Viterbo e l’Etruria meridionale, Via Cavalletti 2, 00186 Rome, Italy
| | - C. Martínez-Labarga
- Università degli Studi di Roma “Tor Vergata”–Centro NAST, Via della Ricerca Scientifica 1, 00133 Rome Italy
- Università degli Studi di Roma “Tor Vergata”–Dipartimento di Biologia, Via della Ricerca Scientifica 1, 00133 Rome, Italy
| | - F. Martini
- Università degli Studi di Firenze–Dipartimento di Storia, Archeologia, Geografia, Arte e Spettacolo, Via S. Gallo 10, 50129 Florence, Italy
| | - O. Rickards
- Università degli Studi di Roma “Tor Vergata”–Centro NAST, Via della Ricerca Scientifica 1, 00133 Rome Italy
- Università degli Studi di Roma “Tor Vergata”–Dipartimento di Biologia, Via della Ricerca Scientifica 1, 00133 Rome, Italy
| | - M. F. Rolfo
- Università degli Studi di Roma “Tor Vergata”–Dipartimento di Storia, Patrimonio culturale, Formazione e Società, Via Columbia 1, 00133 Rome, Italy
| | - L. Sarti
- Università di Siena–Dipartimento di Scienze Storiche dei Beni Culturali, Via Val di Montone 4–Via Roma 56, 53100 Siena, Italy
| | - N. Volante
- Università di Siena–Dipartimento di Scienze Storiche dei Beni Culturali, Via Val di Montone 4–Via Roma 56, 53100 Siena, Italy
| | - R. Senesi
- CENTRO FERMI–Museo Storico della Fisica e Centro Studi e Ricerche “Enrico Fermi”, Piazza del Viminale 1, 00184 Rome, Italy
- Università degli Studi di Roma “Tor Vergata”–Dipartimento di Fisica, Via della Ricerca Scientifica 1, 00133 Rome, Italy
- Università degli Studi di Roma “Tor Vergata”–Centro NAST, Via della Ricerca Scientifica 1, 00133 Rome Italy
| | - F. R. Stasolla
- Sapienza Università di Roma–Dipartimento di Scienze dell’Antichità, Piazzale A. Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy
| | - S. F. Parker
- ISIS Facility, STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Chilton, Didcot OX11 0QX, UK
| | - A. R. Vassalo
- University of Coimbra–Unidade de I&D “Química-Física Molecular”, Department of Chemistry, Coimbra 3004-535, Portugal
| | - A. P. Mamede
- University of Coimbra–Unidade de I&D “Química-Física Molecular”, Department of Chemistry, Coimbra 3004-535, Portugal
| | - L. A. E. Batista de Carvalho
- University of Coimbra–Unidade de I&D “Química-Física Molecular”, Department of Chemistry, Coimbra 3004-535, Portugal
| | - M. P. M. Marques
- University of Coimbra–Unidade de I&D “Química-Física Molecular”, Department of Chemistry, Coimbra 3004-535, Portugal
- University of Coimbra–Department of Life Sciences, Coimbra 3000-456, Portugal
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Silvestro PC, Pignatti S, Yang H, Yang G, Pascucci S, Castaldi F, Casa R. Sensitivity analysis of the Aquacrop and SAFYE crop models for the assessment of water limited winter wheat yield in regional scale applications. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0187485. [PMID: 29107963 PMCID: PMC5673191 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0187485] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/14/2016] [Accepted: 10/20/2017] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Process-based models can be usefully employed for the assessment of field and regional-scale impact of drought on crop yields. However, in many instances, especially when they are used at the regional scale, it is necessary to identify the parameters and input variables that most influence the outputs and to assess how their influence varies when climatic and environmental conditions change. In this work, two different crop models, able to represent yield response to water, Aquacrop and SAFYE, were compared, with the aim to quantify their complexity and plasticity through Global Sensitivity Analysis (GSA), using Morris and EFAST (Extended Fourier Amplitude Sensitivity Test) techniques, for moderate to strong water limited climate scenarios. Although the rankings of the sensitivity indices was influenced by the scenarios used, the correlation among the rankings, higher for SAFYE than for Aquacrop, assessed by the top-down correlation coefficient (TDCC), revealed clear patterns. Parameters and input variables related to phenology and to water stress physiological processes were found to be the most influential for Aquacrop. For SAFYE, it was found that the water stress could be inferred indirectly from the processes regulating leaf growth, described in the original SAFY model. SAFYE has a lower complexity and plasticity than Aquacrop, making it more suitable to less data demanding regional scale applications, in case the only objective is the assessment of crop yield and no detailed information is sought on the mechanisms of the stress factors affecting its limitations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paolo Cosmo Silvestro
- Department of Agriculture Forestry and Nature (DAFNE), University of Tuscia, Viterbo, Italy
| | - Stefano Pignatti
- Institute of Methodologies for Environmental Analysis (IMAA), Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), Tito Scalo, Potenza, Italy
| | - Hao Yang
- National Engineering Research Center for Information Technology in Agriculture (NERCITA), Beijing, China
| | - Guijun Yang
- National Engineering Research Center for Information Technology in Agriculture (NERCITA), Beijing, China
| | - Simone Pascucci
- Institute of Methodologies for Environmental Analysis (IMAA), Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), Tito Scalo, Potenza, Italy
| | - Fabio Castaldi
- Department of Agriculture Forestry and Nature (DAFNE), University of Tuscia, Viterbo, Italy
| | - Raffaele Casa
- Department of Agriculture Forestry and Nature (DAFNE), University of Tuscia, Viterbo, Italy
- * E-mail:
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